Tried and True: The Influence of Perceived Loyalty on Friendship Perceptions and Functioning

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dc.contributor.advisorZeigler-Hill, Virgil
dc.contributor.authorSauls, Destaney
dc.contributor.otherShackelford, Todd
dc.contributor.otherVonk, Jennifer
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-02T13:35:41Z
dc.date.available2024-10-02T13:35:41Z
dc.date.issued2023-01-01
dc.description.abstractFriendships provide social support and often serve to enhance psychological well-being. As such, it is important to understand how these friendships function. One feature that may contribute to friendship functioning is loyalty; however, the role of loyalty in friendships has not been sufficiently studied. The current work is intended to examine the potential relationships between the perceptions of two forms of loyalty and different aspects of friendship functioning. Passive loyalty refers to behaviors intended to be constructive in a relationship, but that may be passive in nature, such as letting a conflict go without holding a grudge. In contrast, active loyalty refers to behaviors that are more overt, such as defending a friend against the criticism of others. Participants were undergraduates drawn from the subject pools of two mid-sized Midwestern universities. Study 1 (n = 445) found that participants viewed their current friendships more positively than past friendships and that active loyalty was especially important in predicting the perceived closeness of the friendship. Study 2 (n = 252) found that active loyalty predicted perceptions of closeness for both the individual and their friend. Study 3 (n = 474) found that perceptions of active loyalty were associated with different aspects of friendship maintenance (i.e., satisfaction with the friendship, investment in the friendship, and perceived quality of alternatives to the friendship) and that active loyalty had indirect associations with friendship commitment through these features. Although hypotheses for all three studies concerned both passive and active loyalty, passive loyalty was somewhat overshadowed by active loyalty. That is, the associations that emerged for passive loyalty often were obscured when active loyalty was included in the same analysis. However, it is important to note that the associations concerning passive loyalty often resembled the associations for active loyalty but were typically smaller in magnitude. Understanding the different potential implications of passive and active loyalty may allow for additional insights regarding how to cultivate and maintain meaningful friendships, ultimately enhancing the well-being and social connectedness of individuals
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10323/18274
dc.relation.departmentPsychology
dc.titleTried and True: The Influence of Perceived Loyalty on Friendship Perceptions and Functioning

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